I Hate You, I Hate You Not
by hi nice 2 meet u
Summary: Three rules to be obeyed by every maid in the Moon household: 1.You must obey your master's commands. 2. Your master is always right. 3. You shall never, under any possible circumstances, fall in love with your master. Out of the three ridiculous rules, this seems the least likely one she could break, unless her master is the childish, annoying, yet impossibly gorgeous Austin Moon.
1. Hatred & Hazel Eyes

Chapter 1: Hatred & Hazel Eyes

The whole thing starts on a beautiful morning, just like any other normal day in the Moon household. If you ask them whether they believe anything remotely similar to what they're about to go through might happen at that time, they would wholeheartedly laugh it off and say you're crazy. But it did happen, and neither of them is about complain with the results.

* * *

It is exactly a minute before six o'clock when Ally Dawson's eyes snaps open, her internal alarm clock synchronizing just in time with the beeping noise of her actual alarm clock. She sits up, attempting to rub the sleep out of her eyes, and gently turns off her alarm.

Trudging to her closet, she throws her soft comfy bed one last longing look, yet manages to stop herself from snuggling back into the warm covers. She takes her perfectly ironed uniform off from the hanger and absentmindedly dons it on, her mind half asleep but still succeeds in putting it on correctly, despite all those intricate and annoying little buttons.

After all, she has been working as a maid for as long as she can remember.

Her parents hadn't been able to raise her since they weren't exactly expecting her, and because they were still struggling with her dad's music business at the time, they had no choice but to, well, make a bargain with the Moons. They agreed to keep her well fed and provide a roof over her head, under the only condition of her working as a maid in their house until she's eighteen.

She feels no hate towards her parents or the Moons, surprisingly. After all, Mike and Mimi did keep their promise of keeping her stomach full, and working as a maid isn't half as hard as it sounds. Mimi, having always wanted a daughter, practically treats her like her own, and she knows as a fact that Mimi personally altered her schedule to lessen her load of housework. But being Ally, she always volunteers to help with the chores even though she didn't have to. She occasionally sees her parents in her free time, and she totally understands why they had to make that decision. It's for her own good, and really, working as a maid _is_ quite fun sometimes. She has a few friends, okay, two, but they are extremely fun to hang out with. Trish de la Rosa, her fellow colleague, has a striking personality and seems to have an endless supply of snarky and sarcastic remarks. Her constant bickering with Dez Fisher, a friend of the family who always hangs out here after school, is always hilarious and almost sweet. But that's beside the point, and Trish will skin her alive if she ever heard her say her name and Dez's in the same sentence.

After freshening up in the bathroom, Ally turns around just to see the door flying open, revealing her short Latina friend right behind with a broom in hand.

"Trish, I'm in the bathroom. You didn't even knock," she says, half annoyed.

Trish just grinned. "Well, you should've locked the door."

"I hung up the occupied sign," she points out, nodding to the small sign swaying left to right on the wide open door.

"Yeah, well, but we're having trouble waking him up again, so COME. ON." Ignoring her protests, Trish drags the poor brunette out of the servant's bathroom, heading straight to the other wing of the Moon's mansion.

Passing a ridiculously long hallway with a wall made entirely out of glass and beautiful marble flooring, they finally stop in front of a set of ebony double doors.

Ally groans. "You can't be serious. It's not my job to wake him up anyway!"

"You and I both know that one never works," Trish replies, rolling her eyes. "Just get on with it. My five minute break ended half an hour ago and I still have to sweep the main dining room."

Sighing dramatically and causing her friend to roll her eyes again, Ally kicks open the door without knocking, shoulders slump.

The heavy drapes in the dark room are shut. She takes a grudging step forward, only to almost trip over a dented alarm clock, clearly unwanted and abused by its owner.

Annoyed, she marches straight to the drapes and yanks them open, allowing brilliant sunlight to stream mercilessly towards the lump on the bigger-than-king-sized bed beside. The lump stirs, snuggling deeper into the tangled silken sheets.

She briefly debates whether to bang the cymbal lying conveniently on the floor, left on its own apart from all the other instruments strewn randomly across the overly spacious room, before deciding against it. It's not worth wasting her energy just to wake that jerk up.

Oh, so she should probably talk about who the jerk is. His name is Austin Moon, a.k.a. the bane of her existence. How good people like Mike and Mimi Moon managed to conceive such a horrible jerk will always remain a mystery to her. He has apparently made it his lifetime mission to make her life miserable. Seriously, what kind of childish sicko sticks a post it note stating 'Just got my first period ;)' on your back to which you unfortunately didn't notice until the end of the day? Sure, everyone in the Moon household from their personal chauffer to the garden boy had found it highly amusing, but she hadn't been able to face anyone without blushing like an overripe tomato for a week. And there's also a time when he hacked off Mrs. Moon's precious yellow roses then attempted to blame it on her. Of course no one had believed him, since the idiot had apparently never given a thought to their fancy high-tech security cameras all around the house.

Anyway, her point is that she hates his guts. And she's pretty sure the feeling is mutual too, considering her detailed and through observation done over the past sixteen years of her life. He's just an annoying jerk, a childish idiot, and a total pain in the rear end.

Momentarily lost in her thoughts, she fails to notice the hand grabbing her arm, successfully making her lose balance and stumble down upon the bed. The owner of it emerges from the mess of tangled sheets, a head of impossibly soft looking blond hair looking even shinier than usual under the bright sunbeams.

"When are you going to stop staring at me and start waking me up?" he drawls lazily, still half asleep. Hazel eyes fix themselves on her brown ones, and Ally feels her cheeks color ever so slightly.

Okay, so maybe she forgot to mention one crucial little detail. The person trying to ruin her life is ridiculously gorgeous.

She manages to fight down the blush. "One, I so did not stare at you, and two, I thought that was your alarm's job before it got dismantled."

He doesn't miss a beat. "True, but I thought the person who has been living off us for sixteen years would be more than glad to do something as insignificant as waking me up. But I guess I was wrong." He rests his head on the headboard and shrugs, shaking his head in mock sorrow.

"Moon—"

"_Master _Moon," he corrects, flashing her his trademark smirk.

She grits her teeth. "_Master_ Moon, please accept my most sincere apologies, but you have to get that lazy ass of yours up right now before you're late for school. Again."

"Language, Dawson. I thought my parents raised you better."

For the love of—How the hell does he always manage to make her lose self control?! Of all the maids and servants in the Moon household, he just has to make _her_ call him master. Ugh, as if it's not already torture to serve him.

Taking deep, slow breaths, she manages to restrain herself from spitting out another snarky remark that will definitely earn his disapproval. "Just get up, it's already pass seven o'clock."

She starts to get up, only to be pulled back by that jerk's—sorry, _Master_ Moon's—hand. "Aww, come on, Dawson, five more minutes?" he pleads playfully, knowing fully well what her answer will be.

"No," comes her predicted reply.

He retaliates by sticking his tongue out at her and hiding back into the covers. Yep, mature, right?

After a few minutes, she finally sighs and says, "I'm making breakfast."

A corner of his comforter lifts up. "I want pancakes," he orders.

"No, you had that yesterday."

He smirks. "That was an order, Dawson."

"I could get another maid to make them for you," she tries to threaten. It works.

His smirk drops. A small pout makes its way to his lips as he widens his hazel eyes innocently. Oh, no—not that look _again_.

And then there is the look she's been dreading of again. His infamous, adorable-as-hell puppy dog face that gets him whatever he wants.

"Please, _Ally_?"

Maybe it's due to the fact that he rarely calls her by her first name, or maybe it's just because his puppy dog face is working its magic as usual, but Ally just can't seem to make herself say no.

"Fine."

He shoots out of his bed, grinning. "Great, now get out of my room, Dawson. I want chocolate ones and make sure there's a lot of syrup on 'em."

The ebony double door shuts in her face and she sighs, leaning her back against the doors.

Hazel eyes always seem to have that effect on her.

A/N: So there goes my first attempt at writing chaptered stories. Please review if you like it, cause I already have chapter two ready since I got exams on Tuesday :(


	2. Pride & Prejudice

Chapter 2: Pride & Prejudice

Ally stares at the ridiculously tall floor-to-ceiling windows, rag in hand and her trusty ladder right by her side. That window has to be at least 6 times taller than her. The Moons own a successful worldwide mattress company called the Moon's Mattress Kingdom, and their mansion really lives up to the name.

However, unfortunately to her, that only means more work. Don't get her wrong, she usually loves to keep the main room spotless, but after a tiring morning of cleaning the jerk's room, she just really isn't in the mood of craning her neck cleaning five super-sized windows. In addition, she really wants to finish reading Pride and Prejudice, despite having already read the classic five times before.

Austin, or 'the jerk' as she constantly refers him as, is currently at school, a fancy all boys private school which tuition fee is insanely high. Thank God, because she can already imagine him making fun of her shrimpy height right now.

She turns her attention back to the damned windows. With a determined expression on her face, she carefully climbs on the ladder, only to almost tumble down by her best friend screaming at her.

Hugging the ladder in panic, she whips her head around to face Trish, who is holding a large basket and looking downright furious.

"I can't believe that guy!" Trish screams out in frustration. "First he breaks up with me, and then he waltz back with a stupid apology shirt and prays for me to take him back! What am I supposed to do?! Just miraculously forgive him for cheating on me and say 'Sure, sweetie! Let's be boyfriend and girlfriend again!'" she yells sarcastically in a shrill and girly voice.

"Trish, calm down. I almost fell off the ladder because of your screaming."

Her best friend winces and says, "Sorry Ally, I just had a really, really bad lunchtime break."

"Hey, it's okay. He's a total jerk anyways. I remember him checking me out when you brought him here last time," Ally replies, referring to Trish's awful ex boyfriend, who now apparently wants her back despite hurting Trish's feelings when she found out he was dating another girl behind her back.

"I know, but he is just so…Ugh."

"You could talk to Dez," she advises. Trish eyes her like she's questioning her sanity, and she laughs. "Come on, I know talking to him would make you feel better."

Her friend snorts. "Yeah, like that would happen. But you're right, anything Freckles do would be stupid enough to make me laugh." She pauses. "Oh man, I just thought up an awesome way to get that double timing jackass back."

Ally smiles. Now there's her queen of revenge. She almost feels sorry for the torment that guy will get later.

Then she notices the basket Trish is carrying. "Trish," she starts off tentatively, "were you supposed to send Moon his lunch?"

She cringes when she sees her friend smile that sickly sweet smile she only uses when she's about to ask her a favor.

"No no no, I am _not_ sending his lunch for you," Ally says frantically. "It's not on my chores today!"

Trish's smile only grows wider. "I know, but I'm already half an hour late and only you can stop him from blowing up. Oh come on, Ally, my ex just did the unspeakable to me today! I need time to plan my perfect revenge!"

Knowing she has no choice, Ally begrudgingly takes the basket from her friend's hands and says, "Fine, I'll do it. But you have to clean the windows for me."

She stalks away, with Trish yelling "You're the best, Ally!" in the background.

* * *

So now here she is, in the Marino School's own elaborate form of a school cafeteria, searching for the familiar head of blond hair.

"Hey gorgeous," says a flirty voice she doesn't know, "nice outfit you got there."

Ally turns around, watching the pathetic guy try to flirt with her but failing horribly. She rolls her eyes at his cheesy 'Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?' pickup line, and is about to give him a piece of her mind when another voice calls out from across the room, and this time it's a voice she'll recognize anywhere.

"Dawson, if you don't get here in three seconds, you're in big trouble."

The guy who has been attempting to flirt with her immediately stills, his terrified eyes flicking back and forth between the owner of the voice and her. He makes a speedy exit to the door without another word. Huh, apparently Moon's also a tyrant in school.

Austin, surrounded by his group of friends at the center table of the room, doesn't exactly look happy. Ally gulps and hurries over, just because an annoyed Austin equals bad things and bad things equals she might not have time to read her book today.

"Ally!" Dez greets her as she makes her away to their table. He and Austin are best friends, though Ally can never quite grasp why someone like Austin would be patient enough to put up with Dez's crazies.

"Hi, Dez!" she greets back with a smile.

"Are you two just going to chat or are you giving me my lunch now?" Austin mutters. "I'm about to die of a severe case of starvation."

Ally quickly takes out his lunch, which involves (surprise surprise) pancakes, along with cheeseburgers, tacos, and dozen other junk food any growing boy will love to eat. In case you are wondering, the cafeteria does offer food, but Austin had childishly argued it wasn't enough. She knows for a fact that he just said that to get her another chore, however, and much to her satisfaction the maids ended up taking shifts.

One of the guys sitting beside Austin whistles and says, "Austin, dude, it must be awesome seeing a line of maids in that uniform and looking as cute as her calling you master every day."

She automatically blushes, then notices the scowl on Austin's face.

"Seriously, dude? You keep your fantasies to yourself," Austin practically growls. Is it just her of does he really sound that possessive? Nah, definitely just her.

"Come on, man, introduce this hot little chick to us," another guy says, elbowing Austin in the side.

He scowls some more. "If you don't stop this right now, Dallas, you'll be on your own with the biology quiz next period," Austin threatens, shooting him a glare.

The three of them instantly begins a heated battle about whether or not Austin should introduce her to them.

"Excuse them, but they are hormonal teenagers in an all-boys school in desperate need of any form of girl contact," Dez apologies. Sometimes the things that boy says actually make sense. "Which reminds me, I have to feed my pet kangaroo today." ...Never mind.

She awkwardly leaves, and it isn't until she's to the entrance when she realizes she forgot to take the basket with her.

Zooming through the crowd once again, she intends to just grab the basket and leave, but as she nears their table, however, their weird conversation unfortunately catches her attention.

"Dude, you totally like her," Dallas, or at least that's the name she remembers, says to Austin with a knowing smirk. Dez and the other boy nod vigorously.

"You guys are crazy if you think I like her," Austin moans, clearly annoyed out of his mind. With his hands covering his ears, he looks exactly like a five-year-old avoiding a lecture by his parents.

"But she's cute, and since you apparently made it clear that you have zero interest in her, can I ask her out then?" Dallas asks. He falters under Austin's withering glare. "Dude, I was just kidding. Just admit you like her."

Her hand reaching to the basket freezes in the air. Basket be damned, she decides, she has a feeling this isn't a conversation meant for her to overhear. She then wishes madly for him not to notice her, but unluckily her prayers went unanswered.

"Dawson? You're still here?" The faintest blush creeps on his cheeks as his ears turn suspiciously red. She just continues to stand there with her mouth agape, her hand still stretching out to the forgotten basket uncertainly.

"What?" he then says, frowning. A look of pure panic crosses his face for the slightest second, and then he's back looking all cool and collected. He takes a big bite out of his stack of pancakes nonchalantly, looking at her with inquiring eyes.

And then she just has to say the first thing appearing on her mind. "How can you eat pancakes in every meal?" she blurts out, then immediately face palms, wishing for a hole to magically appear and swallow her up.

He blinks, clearly bewildered. Then his dumbfounded expression changes into the trademarked smirk. "See, that's why I so do not like her. Coo, coo," he singsongs, twirling a finger beside his temple.

Her jaw snaps close, and she snatches the basket away from the table, a furious blush blooming on her face.

Hah, she knew it couldn't be possible for him to like her. Why should she care anyway? He's just an immature jerk.

What? He has his pride and she has her prejudice.

A/N: Okay, you guys are just so awesome that I had to update the next chapter. But as much as I want to type out chapter three, I really have to STUDY:( KILL ME NOW. But anyways, thanks for all the reviews and please keep on reviewing if you like it!


	3. Teenage Hormones & Trouble

Chapter 3: Teenage Hormones & Trouble

You see, Ally always keeps herself in check. It's simply how she is. So you must understand burying her head in Trish's pillow and trying to suffocate herself to death is not exactly something normal for her to do.

All week she had tried, and failed, to keep Austin Moon out of her head. It seems that his stupid face is permanently etched on her mind, and she can't do anything about it.

Yep, there's no doubt she's officially going crazy.

Crazy, the precise reason Austin had claimed why he could never like her. She's not crazy, is she? Ugh. Now she's getting paranoid, and it's entirely the blond idiot's fault. Or maybe she can blame teenage hormones.

Curse the stupid basket and his stupid words.

"Ally! Ally! Earth to Allison Marie Dawson!" Trish yells. "You are so not spacing out on me when we're discussing your big birthday!"

Ally snaps out of the insult she was composing, and begrudgingly lifts her head up, muttering, "I just don't see what's the big deal about birthdays. I mean, if anything I should probably be celebrating the day for my mom or something."

Trish just rolls her eyes. "Ally, you're sounding exactly like my aunt before she kicked me out. And that's a bad thing, considering I hate her and she's fifty years old while you're sixteen. Besides, how can your seventeenth birthday not be a big deal? It's the last birthday you get to celebrate with me before you leave here! If you don't think I'm gonna make it a birthday you'll never forget, you've got another think coming!"

For the first time in the week her mind's finally free from Austin, and Ally smiles, genuinely touched. Trust Trish to say something like that.

Trish had lost her parents when she was twelve, and because she simply couldn't stand her aunt, she ran away from her and became a maid in the Moon household. Surprisingly her aunt didn't report missing person or cause any trouble, so there was no police involved. And the instant Ally saw the leopard print loving girl four years ago, she just knew she found a best friend of her life. Huh, she really is going to miss her when she leaves the house. But she's getting ahead of herself, there's no point of worrying when she's still got another year stuck in here. Trish's definition of party may be alittle over the top, but Ally has to admit it's always good. She has full confidence in her.

"We're going to get you in the Illusion Club!" the Latina girl screams ecstatically, clearly expecting her to be every bit as enthusiastic.

Okay, rephrase, Trish's definition of party is _a lot_ over the top, and they're _usually_ good.

Seeing her friend's skeptic expression, Trish huffs and says, "Come on, whenever does a plan involving partying and me go wrong?"

Ally sits up, ticking off her fingers. "Well, there's the time when you danced on the dining table and almost knocked over Mr. Moon's super expensive Ming Dynasty china vase. And there's also the time when you tried to throw the maids a New Year's party then somehow Dez brought his pet kangaroo and wrecked the entire kitchen. And then there's also the time when…"

"Fine. Sometimes it goes wrong, but most of the time it's fabu-tastic. And you can hardly count the second one since it's technically Dez who ruined my genius party."

Ally laughs at her friend's made up word mixing fabulous and fantastic. "Okay, so that one doesn't count, but they're still a lot of examples to choose from." Then her brow furrows. "But I'm not really sure about the Illusion Club idea. Isn't that club exclusively for the filthy rich kids?" Austin's smirking face appears on her mind, and she groans involuntarily. "Like Austin?"

Trish beams. "Exactly! I've got it all figured out. We'll just bring our Moon household ID badge, then we'll tell the guards we're trying to find him or some other excuse. I don't know, maybe like we're bringing something for him? Next we'll get in and give you the best time you'll ever have! It's fool proof!"

Ally starts to protest, but is then pushed out of the door by her determined friend. "You're going even if I have to drag you kickin' and screamin' away!" is Trish's muffled threat from the other side of the door.

"At least get me a decent enough dress," Ally says exasperatedly, knowing fully well that there's no chance of her choosing her own attire.

The door opens a crack, revealing Trish's 'yeah-that's-not-gonna-happen' grin. "Don't worry. I've got just the perfect dress for you."

* * *

"I am not wearing that," Ally states flatly, eyeing the sorry excuse of a dress Trish chose for her disdainfully.

It's actually the night before her actual birthday that Trish decides to take her to the famous club, since Trish somehow got the information that they're hosting some sort of activity at the club tonight. They had both finished their chores early, and are supposedly sneaking out at nine o'clock sharp, though it has proved to be difficult considering Trish and her do exactly see eye to eye in terms of dressing in a decent and appropriate way. Meaning no dresses barely covering her ass please.

"Why not? You're going to look smoking in this!" Trish exclaims, emphasizing the flimsy material making up the majority of the dress. Uh huh, yeah, no. She'll look like a certain type of girls whose phone numbers belong on the bathroom wall, if you get what she's saying. And then add in those come-and-get-me heels Trish prepared? You might as well just kill her before she trips and ends up killing herself first.

But Ally has never won an argument with Trish in their entire four year friendship, and tonight is no exception. So half an hour later, Ally finds herself sitting sulkily in Dez's car, dressed from head to toe in Trish approved accessories and makeup.

"I can't believe you got Dez to drive us. No offense Dez, but you're not exactly the safest driver," Ally says, squirming uncomfortably on her seat. Great, she's not even in this stupid dress for more than ten minutes and it's already trying to suffocate her.

"Trust me, Freckles here is not my first choice," Trish mutters beside her. "But on the bright side, at least it's only a fifteen minute drive. I can already see the club, thank God."

"Hey! I heard that!" Dez cries indignantly as he pulls over to drop them off.

"Yeah, yeah. Just try to not crash into any trees on your way home this time. Come on, Ally, let's go."

Ally suppresses a grin. Those two are just so cute when they're bickering and they don't even know it. It is nice that Dez agreed to help them out, though it's probably because Trish half threatened him to do so. Not like they could ask Austin to drive them though, for obvious reasons. Speaking of whom, she hasn't seen that blond devil since waking him up in the morning. Which is weird, considering he usually goes straight home after school to pester her as soon as possible. But then again, he's probably off somewhere celebrating his last day of school before summer vacation. She giggles slightly as she recalls the boy's positively giddy expression this morning. He's just so childish. Sometimes it's annoying, but sometimes it's just so…cute. Like annoying cute.

Or maybe even annoying_ly_ cute, a small voice at the back of her head whispers slyly.

She mentally face palms. God, can't you hormones keep yourselves in check for just one second? Like she hasn't already maxed her weekly quota of thinking about Austin Moon.

Oh my pickles, now where did that come from?! Ally Dawson does not think about Austin Moon, and she certainly does not have any weekly quota for thinking about him whatsoever!

"Ally! Ally! Psst! Say something!" a voice whispers furiously beside her, and Ally blinks, confused, never more grateful for someone to break her form her horrifying train of thoughts. She glances besides her, finding Trish nudging her as subtly as possible, although her face is clearly screaming PANIC! in all caps and exclamation marks.

Apparently at some point during her internal conflict, they had progressed to the front of the club's waiting line, and are now staring face to face with two burly security guards both having frowns on their faces.

"I'm afraid we can't let you pass. Tonight's club is exclusively for the people on the invitation list, and we cannot let any other unrelated people in," one of the guards says apologetically. The other just scowls and eyes them suspiciously, looking as if he wants nothing more than to throw them out and get on with the long line waiting in tow.

"It seems like a lot of you girls are trying to sneak in tonight," the scowling guard growls threateningly. "I'd hate it if you're wasting our time." He gestures behind him, where two sobbing girls are being pulled out of the entrance by other guards.

Ally glares at Trish, who is looking at anything but her.

Great.

"We're really sorry for the inconvenience," Ally begins while racking her brain for more excuses. "And I know you're just doing your job but…" she trails off, grimacing, totally out of what else she could say.

The guards are both looking at her expectantly, and she gulps. "Um, I guess we'll just be on our way," she manages to squeak out in a meek voice.

Now both of the guards are scowling. "Look, missy. I told ya I'd hate it if you're wasting my time, and—"

"What the—Dawson?" a very familiar voice calls out behind them, confusion evident in his tone.

Ally turns, eyes growing huge as she registers the very confused looking blonde staring at her ten paces away, mouth agape.

She immediately swivels back around, pretending as if she didn't see him. Unfortunately, he didn't get the memo and is rapidly approaching them at an alarmingly fast pace. And when Ally feels the tap on her shoulder, she knows she can't pretend anymore.

"What?" she snaps defensively, giving him the best glare she can muster.

Austin just crosses his arms in front of his chest, unperturbed. "Can you please explain to me why you're here?" He glances at Trish, who is now trying to hide behind a flowerpot. "And your friend behind the flowerpot."

Even though they already finished their chores, technically they had still snuck off, and Ally would hate it if Trish gets into trouble. Heck, they could both get into trouble. Sighing, she starts the inevitable explanation.

"Trish and I are just trying to—"

"Are you Austin Moon?" one of the guards interrupts her midsentence, and Austin turns, annoyed, saying, "Yes. That a problem?"

The guards immediately shake their heads. "No, of course not. It's just that Miss Starr ordered us to escort you in as soon as we see you, and we..well, saw you," they finishes dumbly. Despite the situation, Ally can't help but stifle a giggle.

Austin turns back to face her, giving her a 'we're not done yet' look. Then he turns back to address the guards, "Then escort me in. And I'll need to take these two with me." He points at Ally and Trish, who both flinch at his tone.

The guards nod, removing the red rope and allowing them to enter. "Miss Starr is at the bar…" one guard starts to say, but is cut off by Austin's impatient glare.

"Yeah, yeah. Maybe later. Now if you'll excuse me, I have someone to talk to." He ignores Trish and grabs Ally's arm, leading her to a more secluded area in the club. "Explain."

Ally bites her lower lip nervously. What is wrong with him? Never once did he look so annoyed. Last time she checked, it's usually her who gets angry by his childish acts and relentless teasing. Now all of a sudden _she's_ annoyed. Who does he think he is and why is he always butting into her business?

"I don't have to tell you," she states flatly.

Austin's eyebrow twitches. "Ally, this is my friend's start-of-the-summer party. Meaning almost everyone here is in the Marino School, which later on means that they are all girl crazy dudes. You. Can't. Be. Here," he says, emphasizing each word.

"And why not?" she challenges, a bit confused by what he's trying to say but not caring at the moment.

"Just…BECAUSE!" Austin yells, frustrated.

"Thank you, because that explains everything," Ally replies dryly.

He trails his eyes over her, mumbling something to himself that she can't hear. "You can't just wear something like that and waltz into these kind of parties," he finally concludes. "It's a… uh… disgrace to our family!"

Ally's eyes widens incredulously. "Excuse me?! Disgrace?! Look Moon, I don't like to be in this dress any more than you like to see me in this dress, so don't you dare make assumptions like that!"

He lowers his gaze. "I didn't say I don't like you in that dress," he mutters quietly.

"Oh," is all she can say. A blush slowly creeps on her cheeks, and suddenly she's not annoyed anymore, but insanely nervous. And strangely giddy, like she wants to burst into a spontaneous fit of giggles.

"Look," Austin sighs as he runs a hand through his hair. His expression softens. "I'll just get you home, okay?"

She cannot do anything but nod. He didn't grab her arm this time, just gently wraps his hand around her own. She doesn't dare to look up, but at the corner of her eye she catches him blushing, too avoiding any eye contact.

They silently progress to the back door, with Austin leading and her trailing behind, the only thing connecting them being their interlaced fingers. And for a moment Ally feels strangely content.

Until an annoyingly high-pitched voice breaks the silence. "Austin! Why didn't you come find me?"

They turn around, finding a pretty and dark skinned girl glaring daggers at Ally.

And the girl's dilated pupils are screaming nothing but trouble.

A/N: Sorry for not updating in what, two weeks? But I'll try to update more often. *nervous laugh* Anyways, they're airing Season 3 tomorrow! Yay! I can't wait to find out what the blacked out part in the letter said! That letter's just sooo sweet! *sigh* Okay, so I should probably stop before I continue my fangirling. Please review if you like it, and also can you give me some advices? Thanks :-)


	4. Irregular Mood Swings & Internal Conflic

A/N: Warning: I hate this chapter too. So please don't hate me for writing this crap. (hopeful eyes)

Chapter 4: Irregular Mood Swings & Internal Conflicts

How is a girl supposed to react when:

a) She is extremely confused because a girl she's never seen before in her entire life is glaring at her like she wants nothing more than her dead.

b) She is extremely annoyed because that girl is interrupting something that she doesn't quite understand yet but sure as hell doesn't want to end.

And

c) She is extremely flustered because a certain blond boy just tightened his grip on her hand and for some reason her heart is going overdrive.

Yep, it's safe to say that her emotions are extremely messed up at the moment.

"Austin," the girl whines, pouting slightly, "I asked you why didn't you come find me! I've been waiting for you ages ago." Her cute pouty demeanor falters as she pretends to notice Ally for the first time. "Oh. Who is this…girl," she says, her nose wrinkling disapprovingly. She's staring down at Ally like she is someone unworthy to even be in her presence. It's clear as day that the girl has another word in mind, and Ally is pretty sure it's not a word as nice as girl.

Ally also notices that Austin had stiffened visibly. The poor boy looks like he's about to make a mad dash to the back door, but something is preventing him from doing so. He not-so-discreetly glances down at their intertwined fingers, and their eyes meet when he then attempts to sneak a glance at her.

Immediately they both blush, looking pointedly away from each other. Ally takes the opportunity to untangle her hand from his, alternating to wrapping it around her waist instead. At the sudden loss of contact, Austin frowns, a look of disappointment crossing his features for the slightest second before he shoves the hand that is previously holding hers in his pocket.

He suddenly seems to be very much engrossed in the colorful disco ball hanging overhead.

No one spoke. Silence, nothing but pure silence as the girl's question goes unanswered.

Ally shifts her weight uncomfortably. Really, this is getting awkward.

The girl frowns when she heard no reply from Austin. "Ahem," she coughs, successfully regaining full attention from both the blushing teens. "Austin, aren't you going to introduce her to me?" Then she purses her lips. "Or do I not want to know?"

Okay, now Ally is a hundred percent certain her current emotion just changed to extremely pissed off. Somehow it annoys her to no end that the girl is acting like she's the one in control, and then as if it isn't enough, how dare she just…_imply_ that Austin and her have something going on? Repeat after her: Not. Cool.

To her dismay, however, Austin just sighs and does what he was told. "Kira, Ally. Ally, Kira," he mumbles almost incomprehensibly.

The girl, whom she now knows goes by the name of Kira, offers her a clipped smile. "Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, Ally, but would you mind lending Austin to me now? We have some other things to tend to, don't we, Austy?"

If Ally isn't so pissed off right now, she might have found the ridiculous nickname and Austin's priceless expression rather hilarious. But given under the current circumstances, she suddenly develops an overpowering urge to wipe that smug smile off the girl's face. Preferably with something sharp.

"Austin?" Kira once again when the blonde made no reply. "Are you listening?"

Austin, who had been staring up the ceiling again, reluctantly looks down. Exhaling deeply, he mutters a halfhearted yeah under his breath. Ally can sense a trace of annoyance in his tone, but if Kira had noticed, she pretended that she did not.

Instead, she just shoots her an almost triumphant smile. Scratch that, it was a full on smirk. She takes a step forward, latching herself on Austin's arm. The boy made no protest except the little eye roll that didn't go unnoticed by Ally. "Well then, excuse us Ally. It was _such_ a pleasure to meet you by the way," Kira says. Her underlying words are clear: Ha ha, you lose. Austin's going with ME.

Someone please stop her before she strangles that girl.

As if on cue, Trish suddenly appears, all tipsy and giggling. "Oh here you are, Ally! Why are you just standing there doing nothing? These martinis are seriously good! Come on, let's parrrrtyyyy!" She then proceeds to drag Ally away, but not before Ally sees the superior smile Kira just flashed her. Clutching Austin like he is the grand prize she just won at a festival, the dark skinned girl gives her one last smug little wave, then leads Austin to the opposite direction.

Ally can only stare at their retreating form, feeling her chest tighten involuntarily like someone is clutching her heart in a death grip. She frowns when she registers the foreign feeling, trying to decipher whatever it is, yet only finds herself getting increasingly frustrated as she fails to find the cause.

Whatever is happening she does not like one bit.

She then turns to Trish, who blinks in confusion when she sees that her friend is clearly upset.

Ally sighs, rubbing her suddenly sore temples. "I'm not feeling very well," she mutters, "Can we go home?"

* * *

"Ally, are you sure you're okay?" Trish asks for what seems like the millionth time in an hour, her voice clearly doubtful. On one hand she holds a thermometer, and on the other she holds a glass of water.

"I'm fine," Ally replies with a forced smile. Ugh, she doesn't even sound convincing to herself.

Trish had been sent to doll her up before her party, but after seeing the brunette moping around in bed, she quickly abandoned her mission and went into nurse mode.

"You sure?" Trish presses on, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "Cause we can always postpone the party. Just let me talk to the other maids, I'm sure they'd understand. You're probably just down with the flu." She checks the thermometer. "98.4. At least we know you're clear from fevers."

Ally just shakes her head. She knows she isn't sick. The maids had worked harder than they were supposed to for the party, so she can't possibly let them down just because she's feeling a little…off.

Actually, saying her being a little off is kind of an understatement. Ever since she left the club last night, Ally has been unable to shake off the weird feeling, and to make matters worse, it only seems to increase when she found out a certain blonde won't be coming home tonight.

Speaking of Austin, she hasn't seen him since last night. Mr. and Mrs. Moon took him out early this morning, claiming they have an important meeting to attend…Really, out of all the days they could've taken him on a meeting, they just had to choose her birthday?

She mentally scoffs at herself. Ironic that all of a sudden she actually wants him here on her birthday. Since that little stunt he pulled when she turned twelve, which unfortunately involved her precious songbook, corndogs, and Dez (don't ask), she has banned him from her birthday parties ever since. She had been so mad at that time, she freaked Austin out to the point that he was actually shaking. A smile unknowing reaches her lips. Now _that_ had been a victorious day of her life.

_You're focusing on the wrong thing, _a voice in her mind suddenly appears, attempting to persuade her, _this just points out why you clearly don't need Austin here on your birthday! Who cares if he's not here? Your birthday's gonna be a whole lot better without that troublemaker here wrecking it! Trust me, well, I'm technically you, but whatever. Point is, you're just going through some weird teenager phase. It'll go away in like two days. You know how it is, hormones are doing their thing again. Just ignore it._

Ally blinks. Well, that was convincing…

_Sure, let's just blame it on hormones every time you think of Austin, _another voice mocks. _Face it Ally. You _want_ him to be present on your seventeenth birthday. You're just too oblivious and defensive about the whole thing. Hey, it's not like you're committing some big crime by wanting him here. You leave in another year, so it's perfectly normal for you to feel this way, _the second voice reasons.

_Perfectly normal?! _the first voice snorts. _Pul-lease girl, remember it's Austin we're talking about? The same Austin who tormented us for sixteen years?_

_Yes, it's perfectly normal. Who are you trying to kid here? You're clearly going to miss him. Yes, I said it. YOU'RE GOING TO MISS AUSTIN MOON WHEN YOU LEAVE IN ANOTHER YEAR._

_Shut up!_ the first voice suddenly screams. _Don't listen to her!_

_Who's her? We're all the same person here in case you haven't noticed, _the second voice points out dryly.

_You know what I'm saying! _the first voice accuses. _Ally, you hate Austin remember? Don't listen to her! Well, I mean her as in the other more annoying voice. I mean, I know I'm also her, and she's also you, so that means that I'm her and she's you and I'm you and she's…Ugh, you know what? Other voice, just shut up._

_Is it too complex for your tiny little brain? _the second voice says in mock pity. _I think you're the one that should shut up._

_You shut up, _the first voice demands.

_No you shut up, _the second voice counters.

_No you shut up! _the first voice's voice raises. Is there such thing as a voice's voice?

_No you shut up! _the second voice's voice also raises for good measure.

_No you shut up!_

_No you shut up!_

_No you shut up!_

_No you shut up!_

_Enough! Both of you shut up! _Now this is Ally. Did she just yell at herself? Yes, yes she did.

The voices begrudgingly silenced.

_You're mean,_ the first voice whimpers after a moment.

Ally rolls her eyes, or at least she rolled her eyes in her mind. Anyone would choose the second voice. It's calm, it's reasonable, and it made total sense.

But Ally chose the first voice.

Psh, no. She's not in denial. There's just no freaking way she would ever miss that jerk. Uh-uh, not possible. Not now, not ever.

She promptly ignores the insulting remark second voice just muttered.

Her decision made, Ally sits up from her bed, eyes set with determination. She's gonna have a blast at her birthday party with or without that jerk.

"I'ma party all night and sleep all day!" she shouts, pumping a fist in the air. Feeling satisfied by her mini pep talk, Ally turns around, only to find Trish staring at her looking freaked. After all, it's not always you can hear Ally Dawson blurting out random lyrics from the Black Eyed Peas.

Shoot. She completely forgot about Trish. "What? Parties are great, parties are cool, parties are totally awesome! Yay party!" she adds hastily in her perkiest voice, trying to make it sound convincing. Which, sufficient to say, sounds like a really bad cheerleader wannabe. That and add a truckload of enthusiasm enough to kill an elephant. You get the idea.

Trish continues to stare at her as she struggles to comprehend what might've been the bizarrest thing her friend ever uttered. She steals a quick glance at the thermometer, double checking that Ally really isn't having a fever. Cause really, that's the most logical explanation she can think of right now.

Ally quickly pushes Trish out of the door. "Meet you at the servant kitchen later!" she says in that same horrible overly perky voice as she slams the door shut.

_You'd make a terrible cheerleader,_ both of her inner voices comment in unison.

_Shut it. _She's had enough of internal conflicts for a day.

A/N: Again, I really hate this chapter. But I had to write this to, uh, build up the tension and whatnot. I promise there's going to be Auslly in the next chapter though! Pinky swear! So um, please review if you like it, though I really can't blame you if you don't… :(


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